Space Between Bodhidharma And Huike

Space is the way the foreground, middle ground, and the background are treated. For Sesshu, space helps depict the theme better by having negative space between Bodhidharma and Huike. In the foreground, Huike is in his own space and there is no overlapping. Next, in the middle ground, it is Bodhidharma but his space is enclosed by the cave, mimicking his posture. In the background, it is the cave where it overlaps with layers of the rocks sprawling across the page. On the left side, there is a negative space from the top of Huike’s head to the cave; which possibly that they are deep inside the cave, not at the entrance. For Dai Jin, space helps express the narrative better by having closer space between figures to show interaction. Dai …show more content…
Dai Jin painted Bodhidharma and Huike’s facial features in two-dimensional because he might not know what they look like; he might felt that their faces in three-dimensional would lose the meaning of the story. However, he painted Bodhidharma as older, full of experiences and enlightenment, comparing to Huike looking younger, no experiences and no enlightenment. Another two-dimensional detail is the bamboo; although it is a symbol of strength, however, it is flat on the side of the cave. Dai Jin depicted both Huike and Bodhidharma’s clothes as three-dimensional because their clothes depict the contrast between a Zen Buddhist monk versus a Chinese Buddhist monk; white clothes might be possibly the Zen teachings, while stripes and dark clothes might be the Chinese teachings. Another three-dimensional detail is the tree branches that reference to the figures’ state of mind. The main detail that is important is the cave where it is in three-dimensional because it is where the location of the narrative take …show more content…
In Sesshu’s painting, the smooth and organic lines are created at Bodhidharma’s clothes, both Huike and Bodhidharma’s face, the cave floor, and the cave holes. Bodhidharma’s clothes are organic and smooth because his soft clothes have long, curve brushstrokes that outline his body. Huike and Bodhidharma’s face have smooth and organic lines because human skin is soft. Finally, the cave floor is smooth and organic for the hand drawn lines and not using a ruler. In Dai Jin’s work, the smooth and organic lines are Bodhidharma and Huike. Both figures have organic and smooth lines due to the softness of clothes and skin. For jagged and rectilinear in Sesshu’s work, the areas are Huike’s clothes, the rock, and the cave itself. Huike’s clothes have small, short, choppy strokes to create jagged and rectilinear lines, however, the lines are a bit organic, like his shoulders. The rock is jagged and rectilinear due to being a rock. Finally, the cave itself is very jagged and rectilinear because Sesshu is depicting the texture of the rocks and the many layers of the cave. This is to demonstrate the hardships of the journey from non-enlightenment to achieve enlightenment. Dai Jin’s painting, however, have many jagged and rectilinear lines, such as the cave and the tree branches. The cave has jagged and rectilinear lines